1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to biofeedback devices, and in particular, to such devices for improving athletic performance.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
A biofeedback device monitors a particular human activity and provides "feedback" information to the participant, which indicates some quality or characteristic relating to the performance of that activity. The participant uses the feedback information to modify or improve the performance of the activity relative to some standard.
Many such devices have been proposed to improve various sports activities such as the golf swing of a golfer, the bowling ball delivery of a bowler or the swing of a baseball hitter. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,301,559 to Jolley describes a wrist-worn device which is intended to provide an indication as to the particular form which the bowler exhibits as the bowler bowls the bowling ball. The Jolley device is entirely mechanical in nature and is not readily adaptable to indicate the correct execution of any bowling form other than the one for which it is designed. In bowling, there is no one correct form so that the Jolley device may not be suitable for many bowlers.
Other devices such as those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,427 to Gladstone and 4,205,535 to Swanson measure the peak acceleration or velocity of the head of a golf club or a portion of the body such as an athlete's hand. However, for many sports such as bowling, in which the total acceleration during a certain interval is an important factor, a measurement such as the peak velocity or peak acceleration of the movement may not be particularly helpful in encouraging consistency of the overall movement of the arm or wrist.
Kleinerman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,123, describes a wrist-worn device which emits an audio signal when the bowler's arm reaches a pre-determined attitude. This predetermined attitude is not readily changeable in the Kleinerman device such that the device may not be suitable for all bowling styles. Furthermore, the Kleinerman device apparently emits a signal only when the desired attitude (or a predetermined approximation thereof) is achieved. The range of attitudes at which the Kleinerman device will emit a "correct attitude" signal is also not readily changeable by the bowler. Thus, the Kleinerman device might be too frustrating for use by beginners if the predetermined range is too small or may be useless for highly skilled bowlers if the predetermined range is too large. Still further, the Kleinerman device apparently provides no indication as to whether the attitude of the bowler's arm following the release of the ball was either too high or too low, but merely whether or not the attitude was correct.
Still another athletic monitoring device is shown by Evans, U.S. Pat. No. 3,788,647. This device has a plurality of accelerometers for measuring the swing of an athlete's arm. The data sensed by the accelerometers are transmitted to a receiver for comparison and analysis. Thus, the Evans device is not fully self-contained and may therefore be impractical for many applications where a receiver cannot be accommodated.